


Choose Your Own Adventure

by ThePraxianWeasleyGeek



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, giftfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 16:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11085222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePraxianWeasleyGeek/pseuds/ThePraxianWeasleyGeek
Summary: Lapis finds a kindred spirit in a less-than-likely place.





	Choose Your Own Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> A tumblr follower-count giveaway fic that I finally got around to posting on here. Set in criminarchy's TFs-meet-the-gems au!

Lapis' walk along the beach was rather rudely interrupted, by the discovery that Drift had set up another of his sparring sessions.

 _Why_ did he have to use the beach?! She liked walking by the sea to get away from the swarm of holographic humans who'd descended upon the temple - there were so many more people hanging around Steven's house now that she was almost tempted to up and fly back to the barn.

But even Peridot, or a bunch of fake humans, was better than the way that the loneliness she'd find there would remind her of the mirror.

Lapis had found she could rely on Cyclonus as decent company, at least: he appreciated that sometimes, it was enough to simply be near someone, without needing words to fill the space. Except that today, Cyclonus had thrown his lot in with the rabble on the beach before her.

Traitor.

He'd swept his avatar's hair up into a simple knot and donned some loose exercise clothing - and was currently using a training sword to try and fend off an extremely enthusiastic Steven, while Tailgate cheered from the sidelines. Nearby, Drift looked to be coaching Connie in some hand-to-hand techniques. Skids laughed, a little way off, as he dodged Amethyst's attacks; and Lapis had to stifle a giggle of her own as her gaze fell on Nautica and Pearl. The clumsy mechanic seemed somehow to have knocked Pearl to the ground with her own spear, and was apologising profusely.

Lapis' amusement, however, didn't change the fact that this little gathering was in the way of her afternoon walk. Before she could open her mouth to complain, Drift turned his head and caught sight of her, face splitting into an almost irritatingly sincere smile.

"Lapis! Have you come to join us? I bet you could teach most of us a thing or two."

The blue gem's smile vanished completely. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Drift looked a little taken aback at her sharp response.

"Well, Lapis Lazulis are powerful gems - warriors, even... aren't you?" He lowered his gaze for a moment. "I'm a former Decepticon, I know a fair bit about your species. But I just thought you might like to contribute to our lesson; share some of your skills."

Lapis could practically hear Steven's defence of Drift already, even though the kid had yet to open his mouth.

_He doesn't know about your past - he just wants to include you, Lapis!_

Sadly, she wasn't really in a mood to be understanding.

"I don't do any of that, anymore. I'm through with fighting."

Fighting Jasper, fighting the Gems, fighting against the mirror she'd been trapped in... Lapis wanted to rest. She didn't have _time_ for these warlike Cybertronians and their noise and their mess.

She _would_ go back to the barn, she decided.

Lapis tried to turn on her heel, but the sand beneath her feet slid a about and dislodged her grip; she ended up instead with an undignified sort of flail, which did nevertheless spin her round to face the direction she wanted. Namely, away from the Autobots.

She wasn't so rude as to take off straight away - she at least owed it to the other gems, she supposed, to drop in at the temple and let Garnet know about her plans. (Telling Amethyst or Pearl out here would only cause more of a scene).

As the little wooden house and its sheltering cliff loomed into view around the bend, Lapis heard the scrabbling of someone's footsteps on the sand behind her. Irritated, she picked up her pace, hunching her shoulders and marching off at double-speed to try and outrun her pursuer.

They weren't to be deterred. "Hey, Lapis! Please just... just hold on a second," the mech on her tail called. That wasn't Amethyst, Pearl, Steven or Connie, so it was definitely a mech - though which one, Lapis couldn't have said. She hadn't made a point to try and identify them all.

The scowl she wore as she pivoted back to face the mech chasing her was half exasperation at her own damn curiosity.

"What d'you want... Brainstorm?" She almost tacked on an _is that right?_ , but stopped herself in time. She didn't want him here, so she wasn't about to invite any more conversation than necessary.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Lapis folded her arms, shoulders hunching. "Do you want an apology or something? Drift was kinda out of line too."

Brainstorm looked a little startled at that, amber eyes widening. He held up his hands in a weak sort of pacifying gesture.

"No, no, I uh... I agree with you, honestly. I can see where Drift's coming from - we tend to assume your Homeworld's culture works the way our Functionists' did. But no. I suppose I just want to say, I know how you feel."

That managed to startle Lapis and send a stab of annoyance through her at the same time. She scowled. "Sure. The quantum physics geek knows how I feel about fighting."

"Actually, Nautica's the quantum mechanic. I'm a weapons engi"- he trailed off at the look on Lapis' face. "Nevermind. But... well. Disregarding my field of study for a minute, the sciences weren't always where I belonged. I was born a soldier."

Despite herself, Lapis was curious. "Seriously? _You?_ "

"Hey, I never said I was any good." Brainstorm took a seat on the sand, and Lapis slowly lowered herself down beside him. "It was just what I was built for. Didn't mean anything beyond that, especially not looking back on it now."

"How does a soldier end up making guns, then?"

"By deciding that fighting's not his thing," Brainstorm answered simply. "I mean, I definitely _contributed_ to the fighting - but I never fired a shot at anyone myself. Because that's where I decided I was going to draw the line, and I dug my heels in, and... well. It paid off."

"Good for you, I guess," said Lapis, mouth thinning into a line.

"Better for you. You're living in peacetime - more or less. Nobody's gonna try and enlist you, or order you around, or shove you out on a battlefield. Steven's been saying you've been living out in the country somewhere; but I'm telling you you don't need to hide."

"Who says I was hiding?" Lapis snapped.

"Someone who's locked himself away in his lab way too many times when he didn't want to deal with things."

Lapis ducked her head, shaking her hair out to cover her face so that Brainstorm couldn't see just how well he'd hit the mark.

No wonder this lot liked the Crystal Gems so much. Brainstorm seemed to Lapis almost like Pearl in reverse; and it was strange to think that someone who hailed from as warlike a society as Cybertron could have such a story. She'd heard plenty from the Gems about how they'd left their original posts to take up arms - to the point that Brainstorm's tale was almost a shock.

Lapis' experience on Earth so far had been defined by fighting, but maybe it was possible to just... surrender. Retreat. Redefine herself.

Out loud, all she said was: "So you're telling me I should get involved in the weapons industry?"

 

* * *

 

"... What do you think they're talking about?"

Peridot wandered up behind Perceptor, who stood with his arms folded over the balcony rail and a rather worried (for him) expression on his face. Further down the beach, near the shoreline, were the objects of his focus - Lapis and Brainstorm. They'd been sat in conversation together for over two hours by this point.

Perceptor heaved a deep sigh.

"Normally, I'm all for encouraging healthy scientific curiosity. But in this instance I think it'd be far safer if we stayed well enough away. From them, and from whatever results from this discussion they're having."

The gem made a noncommittal noise of agreement, and silently vowed to needle the answer out of Brainstorm anyway at a later date.

 


End file.
